Of Sake and Row Houses
by Daughter of Chaos
Summary: A collection of series based one-shots, drabbles, and prompt fills. Some are funny, some are angsty. Featuring Sanosuke, but including the entire Kenshin gang. Now: Considering Sanosuke's strengths and weaknesses.
1. Of War and Grief

**Of Sake and Row Houses**

A series of short stories for Rurouni Kenshin

Disclaimer: I really don't own Rurouni Kenshin or its characters. I'm just looking for inspiration from them. No profit had, just good, (mostly) clean fun.

A/N: what can I say for myself? I have a wonderful chaptered fic that even I can't wait for the end of and find I can't settle in to write the thing. I thought I might try some author pallet cleansing, my writer's cracker between wine if you will. So, here we are, into a series of one shots brought about via writing prompts and such.

Yes, I said series. The sort of thing where your never quite finished because its a matter of one shots and inspiration. I hope no one minds too much :\

9.) Grief (For the rk_challenge on LJ)

Word Count: 367

**Of War and Grief**

As a child he hadn't known what to do. Tossed into war-torn events as he was, he had still been too young to understand it. Death, that is. Even in obvious moments, such as that first time as he stood among the men of the Sekiho-tai on a battle field with a sword in his hands nearly as long as himself. Or the first time he'd had to use that sword to impale a man nearly twice his height. It didn't matter that it was a child wielding the sword, the sharp side was the right direction and the man bled out and died all the same.

That incident, that first time of being the cause of another human's demise, it had certainly dulled the bright child-like delight he felt at being at war. Yet, it still hadn't made him understand. It took one very sobering event to convey the horror of death and the grief it left behind to young Sanosuke – the utter betrayal and devastation of his comrades in the Sekiho.

Worse, the death of his beloved captain. That's what it had taken to drive the point home. Standing on the bloodied war ground that were the streets of Kyoto at the time, and staring up at the severed head of his Captain Sagara with the word "Aku" painted in ugly red across his jacket – it had been overwhelming.

What should have lead to a healthy release of emotion of a heart broken child drove him instead to an all consuming and unholy anger.

He never did grieve properly. How could he?

It wasn't until ten years later with the steadying force of a friendship with Himura Kenshin and an unfortunate reason to have revisited not only the Sekiho's last battle ground but also Kyoto that Sanosuke's temper cooled enough for the red-blaze of anger to give way to something more important. Something even Katsu couldn't really share with him.

It wasn't until ten years later that Sagara Sanosuke sat in the solitude of his own apartment and raised a toast of sake to his long dead hero. A small sad smile playing about his lips. "To you, Captain. Always."


	2. The Smell of Blood

A/N: So I'm prompted with the word 'Fragrance' and I think of blood? Lol, might have missed the point on this one slightly as fragrance would really apply to good smells by definition.

8.) Fragrance (For the rk_challenge on LJ)

Word Count: 1851

**The Smell of Blood**

There were smells that could take you away to far away lands and far-away thoughts. For some those would be romantic thoughts and pictures of smooth skin and fine features. For others those wondrous smells that made a man think of wondrous things involved well cooked food and the stale smell of sweat and sake that permeated his favorite drinking hole.

Sanosuke generally fell into the second category of things. Not that he didn't think of smooth skin and fine features given time to himself and no companion to share his cot for a month or two, but scent didn't typically trigger it. However, good food and the fragrance that could bring him set his stomach rumbling and his mouth salivating. And stale sweat combined with stale sake promised a fun evening in either getting drunk or enjoying a great bar fight – which incidentally both ranked pretty highly on his list of things to do.

There were other smells though, stronger smells, that brought things to mind that had no business being there. Not that the smells themselves were necessarily more potent in their ability to waft through a room and wipe out everything behind them. It was just that they were stronger in how the possessed a man's mind and took over his thoughts and actions after coming into contact with his nostrils. There were certain of these scents that probably affected everyone, like the smell of a house burning down or a corpse decomposing. There were others that affected a much smaller population of people.

The ever permeating scent of blood being among them.

Sanosuke knew the sight of it tended to turn most folks off, but not all that many knew the smell of it without first identifying it with their eyes. He certainly could. He knew Kenshin could too.

Really you wouldn't think it's be an important distinction whether anyone could smell blood and know that coppery twang for what it was without a second thought or not. Turns out, it really is important and even occasionally useful. Such as when Kenshin decided to go and get himself purposefully kidnapped to save Jou-chan and the brat from a slightly more clever than usual Tokyo gang.

Sanosuke allowed them the slight cleverness for having drugged Kenshin before taking him and having forced him to take the drug by his own hand. The position with Kaoru and Yahiko really must have been compromising was all Sano could figure on this. Really, why else would Kenshin do it? Not that it mattered right then. What matted then was Yahiko's gasping explanation of events to a stunned Sanosuke as he stood outside his apartment row house. That and Jou-chan's haunted eyes and fidgeting hands.

Well hell, Kenshin was in trouble, of course Sanosuke was coming with them to rescue him. Not so much for the rescue, he told himself, as to knock the man a good one for adventuring without the street ruffian by his side – again. After all, Kenshin wasn't much the type to need rescuing. He was tough and durable and frighteningly resourceful. He'd probably be free of both drug and restraints by the time the trio arrived and have all ready taken down the gang all on his own.

All the same, Sano knew the gang and their favorite haunt. Worse, he knew their reputation. Despite his head reassuring him of Kenshin's relative safety, his heart urged his feet and those of his two companions to run all the faster. Because, yes, he was taking them with him. He had too. How could he protect them from potential backlash in this venture if they weren't in his line of sight?

They broke into the much abused manor house on the outskirts of East Tokyo by way of Sanosuke's fist. The left one of course, the right one was still healing and that lady doctor would have his hide for breaking it – again. The gang, such as the sentries visible were, were present and notably shocked by the entrance. Sanosuke flew into the great room with a whirl of fists, elbows, and feet and noted absently the vocalizations of sword techniques as Kaoru and Yahiko pounded down a couple of gang members with their wooden swords.

Despite an easy victory, or perhaps because of it, Sanosuke felt as though something heavy had dropped into his belly. Why hadn't Kenshin taken this lot out on his own yet? Was it possible the man was still under the influence of whatever drug they had forced him to take? Of course as he moved through the dilapidated building with his two shadows on his heels, Sano realized it couldn't all be this easy. And it wasn't. He was rewarded with a couple of decent fights on his way through. Nothing Kyoto level, of course (he feared he'd never see that sort of excitement again, really), but they made his heart rate increase and a light sweat to break out on his skin.

It would have felt good were Kenshin at his side. It should have felt good anyway, the punching and the kicking and the sheer joy of the fight. Sanosuke found he wasn't used to worrying after others in the middle of enjoyable things though, found he didn't like having the taste of good combat gone sour in his throat for burning concern for his friend. As such he didn't take his time in the fights. He didn't loiter. If he couldn't enjoy it he determinedly made it quick. Apparently Kaoru and Yahiko caught on to this as they said nothing in his wake.

The last of the gang in the building, though certainly not the last in the gang, the rats had abandoned the ship on finding Storm Sagara Sanosuke blowing through the place, was finally dispatched. The man's wild eyed last ditch effort to cover himself and his track was to announce that they wouldn't be able to find what they couldn't see as he dashed his kerosine lantern to pieces down the flight of stone stairs to the black cellar below the manor.

If nothing else, it made it blatantly obvious as to where Kenshin was.

Sanosuke wanted to tell the younger two in his rag-tag group to stay on ground floor in in the light of the fading afternoon. By the determined looks on both faces he knew it'd be a lost cause though. Yahiko, fast fingered kid that he was, filched a candle and a match from somewhere and Sanosuke lead them into the cellar.

And Sagara Sanosuke knew within a few feet of the stairs what was in that cellar. It was a scent that sorted itself above and beyond the kerosine spill on the steps and the musty dampness of the room. It was blood. Probably not a lot of it, that would have been even more coppery in his nose, but there all the same.

Which would be when this was one of the few times that knowing that smell quite so intimately proved useful. He held up a forestalling hand to his two charges even as the flickering candle light dimly showed the magenta clothed form of his samurai friend. "He's hurt. We'll need a tourniquet of some sort and then to get him out of this cold as quick as possible."

Yahiko eyed him askance as Jou-chan's face paled. "Your sure about that? We haven't even found him ye..."

Sano pointed to the figure he could barely make out on the floor and both of the other two charged in with out further conversation. He'd smelled the blood and provided as much warning of the fact to these two innocents as he could. It was enough. The panic was a dull roar instead of a wild fire and they had quickly bandaged Kenshin's bleeding right leg before Sanosuke hauled the still unconscious rurouni over his shoulder and back out into day light.

They returned to the dojo and sent the brat to fetch the lady doctor. Which was good, Kenshin needed doctoring. After having laid Kenshin out in his room, Sanosuke seated himself in an ungainly sprawl across the engawa outside. He desperately tried to imagine the sweet fragrance of Megumi's bean paste or that western cake he'd spied at a stand the other day. Anything to clear his pallet of...

Yahiko, his usefulness indoors apparently at an end, took a fidgeting seat beside Sanosuke, interrupting his thoughts. "How did you know he was hurt before even seeing him?"

Sanosuke twitched a crooked grin at the younger boy. "Do you know what blood smells like?"


	3. Black, and White, and Power

A/N: This is dark. Very dark. I'm skating a thin line I'm sure in rating this T instead of M. All I can say is that while the physical violence may be written about, other points of this story are implied – heavily. I refuse to write them though I will indulge in the circumstances and results. So, be warned, this short story comes from Sanosuke's view as a little boy right after the decimation of the Sekiho-tai. Contains reference to child rape. Why? Because rape is all about power, unfortunately. If that makes you uncomfortable, I demand you skip this chapter and move on to the next.

3.) Power (For the rk_challenge on LJ)

Word Count: 1137

**Black, and White, and Power**

He'd never felt quite so lonely in all of his young life. Sanosuke supposed somewhere in his morose thoughts that he ought be frightened as well. He was Sagara Sanosuke now, no matter how his Captain had told him not to do it. It didn't matter anymore. None of it did.

The Imperial Army had proven their veritable power to turn truths to lies. An army of merchants and farmers slaughtered to keep a lie buried. A whole group of men forever slandered for having really done nothing wrong. The world used to be black and white for Sanosuke. He had been naive enough to believe in there just being good and evil. Now, at nine years of age, staring up into the bulging glassed eyes of his decapitated Captain, he came to another conclusion. Not that the world wasn't still black and white, just that black was white and white was black.

The bad guys paraded themselves as good guys and that's why they held all the power. That in turn meant that good guys had to be bad guys. Why else would they have painted 'Aku' on his Captain's jacket in ugly splattering red? Why else would his rotting head be stuck on pike in a town square of Kyoto? And if good guys were actually bad guys that obviously meant he was destined to grow up to be a bad guy.

A bad guy wouldn't be afraid to walk the streets of Kyoto alone at dusk to gaze upon a mottled and discolored head of a former captain in a town square. Bad guys were tough and bad that way and that was what he had to be. A Bad guy. Even if the bad guys were good guys. Or was that the other way round?

"Hey, boy!"

The yell had come from his left and the young Sanosuke turned quickly on his heel to find the source. Frightened or not, Kyoto was no place to be off your guard. Upon spotting the group of men standing in the road the boy dropped very nearly into a sprinter's stance. The square had cleared for them as they wore they're Imperial colors like a badge of honor. Like a badge of power. Like a blatant lie.

"Its not the first time we've seen you scuttling around that dead bastard's head. Look at you, you think your something special wearing the betrayer Sekiho red bandana around? They mentioned that this cowardly dead captain here kept boys with him in his army, they did. Here I thought we'd manage to exterminate all the insects."

Sanosuke found himself caught between rage and panic. A glance at his captain's head had red in the boy's vision and sense of self preservation cleared from his skull. Ignoring the tears in his eyes the last remaining member of the Sekiho-tai (as far as he knew) gave into his temper and flung himself bodily at the commander of the five men in the square with a scream. This tactic seemed to briefly startle the man as the boy got in a couple of hits with small fists full of rage. And then the commander laughed and pressed a hand to Sanosuke's head and held him tightly at arm's length.

"And aren't you the wicked little scrapper. All that energy and such pretty tears, I begin to see why this dirty Sagara kept boys like you around." The man looked up to share a dark laugh with his comrades and Sanosuke buried his nails into the flesh of the man's hand and wrist in a desperate bid to free himself. The leader continued with a feral grin on his face. "You know, you obviously being Sekiho-tai we are under orders to kill you, brat. They never said age made no difference. They also never said we couldn't take some pleasure from the experience now did they?"

Through a haze of tears and, if he were honest with himself, true fear the little boy snarled threats and shrieks at the men, at the leader of these men with his hand full of Sanosuke's unruly brown hair and the boy at his mercy to be dragged through town. He didn't really understand what they meant. He had no reference point on the matter. But he knew those grins too full of teeth and that laughter too raucous to be honest implied ill things for him.

Some two hours later found the boy sniffling and shaking, his knees drawn to his chest and his forehead pressed hard into the solid comfort of rough tree bark. Sanosuke's hands were bound behind his back and the rope tied to the tree just on the outside of the firelight of the small band of Imperialists camp. They had laughed to watch him struggle back into his pants with his hands bound. They had laughed and taunted about more than that that night.

Good men were bad and bad men were good. White was black and black was white. And in the end it all came down to power. Sanosuke knew that if he had a sword like they did, he would rightfully show them who had the power. His thoughts clogged in his mind as his memories and his pride and his anger and utter terror ran rampant circles about themselves in his skull. He twitched and groaned under the onslaught of memory and emotion. His wrist caught on a sharp stone he hadn't realized was behind him. The clog abruptly removed itself. One idea became very clear to young Sagara Sanosuke.

By midnight the child had freed himself of his rope by methodically rubbing against that rock. By that time the group of six Imperialists had resolved their fun into a drunken stupor, including the man who was meant to stand guard. By one in the morning Sanosuke had slipped one of the soldier's katanas from its sheath and had proceeded to hack at and run through all six of them in the camp. He waited some time listening to their last dieing screams and gasps before dropping the sword and disappearing from the Kyoto woods.

Sanosuke had just committed murder, he knew, but what they had done was worse. And what did it matter? Good guys were bad and bad guys were good. Where did that leave Sagara Sanosuke? He didn't know. But he finally had a chance to show some Imperial pigs who had the power for real. He liked the taste of it.

All the same good men or bad men or whatever they were shouldn't be murderers. He should never have used what his Captain had taught him about sword play to kill those men in their sleep. Sanosuke knew then he would never use a katana again.


	4. Shopping Buddies

A/N: And the first thing I thought of for this prompt was the British exclamation, "Brilliant!" Moving right along...

2.) Brilliant (For the rk_challenge on LJ)

Word Count: 200 (first official drouble, thanks much!)

**Shopping Buddy**

He had never seen anything so blinding brilliant as the smile Jou-chan had flashed his direction that morning. Kenshin was out doing heaven-knows-what and Yahiko was at work at the Akebeko. Sanosuke hadn't known that or he might not have dropped in right then for something of a free meal.

No, he still would have.

He found Jou-chan puttering about the kitchen cleaning and putting away dishes. She was alternating between nervous fidgeting and raw temper in her conversation. This was a bizarre combination of emotions to Sano, but not all that peculiar coming from Kaoru. She fed him left overs all the same and in return he stood in the doorway while she cleaned with a cup of warm tea in his hands and his ear and shoulder available for the younger woman to rant on.

Her nervous and upset behavior became clear enough when the kendo instructor flung down her dish towel and blurted, "Kenshin's birthday is coming up and I don't know what to get him!"

Sano puzzled over this before eventually sending the younger woman a lopsided smile and offered the only thing he could, "I'll go shopping with you then, if you'd like."


	5. The Unexpected Matchmaker

A/N: Its funny that I wrote theses stories in reverse order of the prompts they actually came from. Consider this story a follow up to Prompt 2: Brilliant. For the record, I'm a fan of BigBrother!Sanosuke and LittleSister!Kaoru when it comes to that aspect of the Kenshin family. I'm afraid those tastes blatantly show. Really, the man teases her relentlessly but drops everything to protect her (and you can't convince me its just because of Kenshin...) Oh and bonus points for a surprise kiss were once to be awarded for this prompt. Of course I imagine it would have had to have been done on time for that to work.

1.) Party (For the rk_challenge on LJ)

Word Count: 2117

**The Unexpected Matchmaker**

He expected this party Jou-chan was throwing to be well worth his while. He really did. To have to be caught out on the streets of Tokyo carrying this shiny little fist sized wrapped box was beyond him. If he had a girl or some such he could pass the pretty little thing off as a gift for her. Sanosuke didn't have a girl though and of all the times he might pass a clutch of his drinking and gambling buddies it would be today.

The ex-street rough pulled his chin up high and coiled his right hand as tightly as he dared about the box as he offered as nonchalant a greeting as possible. He heard the snickering behind him, caught a glimpse of hands being raised to mouths to attempt to hide this activity from the mighty Sagara Sanosuke.

Oh, there would be rumors flying by tonight, he knew. Was he finally taking a whack at presenting himself as a romantic interest for that foxy lady doctor? Was he trying to woo that red-headed swordsman's girl right out from under him? Was he trying to woo that red-headed swordsman? The last always cracked him up when ever he heard any such rumors directed at himself and Kenshin. According to Ginji, Kenshin quite batted his eyes at Sanosuke whenever they were together. Sanosuke pointed out that Kenshin batted his eyes at everyone.

Honestly, he could almost understand the gossip of his trying for female conquests with Jou-chan and Megumi. He really could. To outside eyes that kind of thing might make sense even if he in truth wouldn't ever really pursue those tracks. Heaven help him. That lady doctor would laugh until her make-up was streaming if he tried any wooing and Jou-chan wouldn't know he was trying unless he smacked her with a romantic stick upside the head. Even then he wasn't sure. And they both had Kenshin colored glasses on when it came to men.

And with Kenshin, well at this Sanosuke allowed himself and amused smirk. He wouldn't ever try to woo Kenshin. If he decided he wanted a go in the horizontal kind of swordplay with Kenshin he'd just out and ask. No point in beating around the bush with the man, he'd know. Sanosuke had no interest in Kenshin that way either though. There were much easier prospects to be had at his usual dives if he wanted someone to warm his toes of a night.

Still, to see the tough, able, and epitome of manliness that was Sagara Sanosuke walking through town (and out of town as fast as he dared) with a little box wrapped in silvery paper and tied off with a complex bow of red ribbon would be enough to set the town gossips to working. He wasn't unknown (his own doing on that) and neither were his habits (also his own doing in all honesty) and this strange little scene was way out of character for him.

Which was when Sanosuke decided Jou-chan had best be serving sake at this party and enough of it for him to get very drunk and have every excuse to pass out and sleep at the dojo tonight. Let the rumor mongers stick that in their craw and chew on it.

The young man let that smile that was creeping in his heart about the whole thing tonight finally cross his lips as he passed the last bridge out of the heart of Tokyo on his was to the dojo. It was Kenshin's birthday and Kenshin's party. And how Kaoru had managed to wrangle that sort of personal information out of a man as tight lipped as Kenshin was well beyond Sanosuke's own reasoning and powers. He was more than willing to go with the celebration though.

And just possibly get himself into some well earned trouble.

What he carried in the box was the gift the he had gone along with Jou-chan to pick out not two weeks before. She wanted a frilly something, but must have suspected it wouldn't at all be what Kenshin wanted. Which was how the kendo instructor wound up having a world class street ruffian trailing behind her like a well trained puppy as they cavorted through a variety of street stalls. She was likely hoping Sano could sniff out something useful for the rurouni.

At the leather smith's shop Sano was rather proud of himself for having spied something to combine the two whims – it could be personalized and yet would be perfectly useable to to the red-haired man. It was a leather hair tie back, cut with precision and wide enough to control that mane of Kenshin's hair while supple enough to be easy to tie off. Sano pointed this out to the younger woman and suggested they might have a birthday wish embossed on the strap.

Kaoru had been thrilled, leaning over the counter and grinning hopefully up at the leather smith on the other side. "Please emboss it to say 'Best Birthday Wishes. From Kaoru, Megumi, Yahiko, and Sanosuke.'"

The man looked rightly stricken by this command even as Kaoru counted out her money, said she would return for it in two weeks, and happily trotted off in the direction of a shiny bauble stand across the street. Sanosuke strayed, having taken pity on the poor worker and also realizing himself what a problem all of that would be to put on a leather hair thong. Leaning an elbow on the counter he suggested quietly to the man, "That'd be some hard work on your part. Just go with 'Best Birthday Wishes, Love Kaoru.' I'll tell her I changed it."

Oh, it was a risk and a bold one at that in having that particular phrase so permanently emblazoned on leather. He kind of hoped Jou-chan wouldn't out and kill him. He hoped Megumi wouldn't kill him either. He really hoped Kenshin wouldn't go so red in the face that he popped like a small, self contained, explosion.

Okay, so he hoped to do a little unasked for matchmaking here. That's the part where he suspected he was going to get into trouble. He hadn't told Kaoru what he had done. She wouldn't know until Kenshin opened his gift this evening.

It turned out that Kaoru had well out done herself for this party. She must have been saving for some time and he suspected Tae still kicked in some food and beverage 'on the house' among what was brought to the dojo. Tae and Tsubame had to run early from the party to close down the Akebeko that night (much to Yahiko's fidgeting consternation.) So they dined and started in on the sake early. Gensai-sensei was called out not long after on a house call for one of his patients. This is how it turned out for better or worse to just be Kenshin, Kaoru, Yahiko, Megumi, and Sanosuke himself around to witness as Kaoru pulled the small wrapped gift from behind her back and presented it to Kenshin with a shy smile.

If she knew what was written on it, she'd be a lot shier of the whole deal.

It turned out only some of Sano's predictions for reactions to this gift were true. Kenshin carefully unwrapped the package and dipped one pale hand into its interior retrieving the fine piece of workmanship that was the leather hair tie back. He spied the inscription right away and flipped the leather to read it through quickly. He did turn red – bright red, but he skipped the small explosion part. The little rurouni's eyes darted nervously to a joyously expectant Kaoru even as his pink tongue just barely tipped out between his lips.

Jou-chan watched him for a moment before her brow began to lower and her smile to fade ever so slightly. "Do you like it?"

Sanosuke knew a wicked grin was crossing his own face by this time and quickly buried his reactions in a cup of sake. It was much too funny. Kenshin looked as though he'd sat on something sharp and twitched wonderfully even as he pulled a jittery smile from the depths of somewhere to reward Kaoru with. "It is lovely, Kaoru-dono. This one has never received quite such a gift before."

Oh heavens above, Sanosuke found he had to close his eyes and clench his jaw to contain his amused reaction. Kenshin: the master of understatement. Yahiko was rapt with curiosity and watching the tableau in front of him intently. Megumi's cinnamon eyes and sharp intellect had caught on to something being not quite right in this game. Her gaze slid unerringly to Sanosuke and his not-well-hidden humor. He , in turn, shrugged as innocently as he could back at her.

Kaoru continued, looking some cross between pleased and baffled. Even she knew Kenshin's behavior was not quite right for the gift given. "Well it is from all of us. I had hoped you'd like it, maybe even use it."

"Oro?" Came the somewhat squeaked reaction to this announcement. Kenshin's eyes going wide in disbelief and confusion. "This one was under the impression that... thought it to be personalized from you, Kaoru-dono."

And now Kaoru was looking equally confused. Yahiko's own brows were drawn low. Megumi seemed to have quickly put together who exactly had brought the gift and his all together wrong and amused response to the conversation. Sanosuke met her gaze, struggling and failing to look innocent of the matter. And that damn foxy doctor, what did she do? Her lips twitched into an equal smile, as though she knew something fun was up. They really were too much alike, him and this lady doctor.

All the same, Kaoru carried on. "Well certainly I picked it out. Actually, I brought Sanosuke along to help me that day and he picked it out. I dictated the embossing though. And bought of course. You know Sanosuke never would."

And what should have damned Jou-chan further in the conversation in fact saved her. The candle was lit in Kenshin's head as he murmured, "Sano helped you to... Ah."

Deep blue eyes set in a still scarlet face turned knowingly on the ex-street ruffian. For his part, Sano's eyebrows flew up beneath his headband and he did his best to look innocent and hide behind a sake cup again. Of course he knew he never really did pull of innocent very well.

He expected Kenshin to call him out on it openly. To have the man blatantly point out what he had done in Kaoru's name. He knew it was coming because of this shy little tip-toeing act that had been going on forever between Kenshin and Jou-chan. But Kenshin did something entirely different. Which was fair really, it was his party after all.

The rurouni turned a wondrous smile on Kaoru at that point. She began turning red as he reached out and clasped her hand with both of his, gently depositing the leather strip writing side up in her palm. "This one fully returns the wishes, Kaoru-dono, and the sentiment expressed on this leather. This one will wear it with pride."

And Sanosuke alone gaped that time. He and Kenshin being the only two in the room who knew exactly what was written on that gift just then. And knowing that, had Kenshin actually just told Kaoru that he...

Kaoru's eyes stayed on Kenshin's for an uncomfortably long moment before they seemed to drift to the leather in her hand of their own accord. There were several seconds of silence before Kaoru went white and then red. "This isn't what I.. this isn't at all what what was supposed to be... I... Kenshin, did you just say what I think you said?"

Kenshin's warm eyes lit up with a warm smile as he shrugged, the red never quite leaving his own face. "This one merely thanks you for his birthday gift Kaoru-dono."

From here the leather was passed around to the other two in the room which inspired much laughter when it became perfectly clear what Sanosuke had done. Sanosuke himself expected that Kaoru would be on the war path about the whole business (and he wouldn't have blamed her.) Therefor it came as one hell of a shock to have Kaoru kneel beside him to fill his sake cup later that night and quickly dart in to place a brush of a kiss on his cheek. This time Sano knew he was the one turning red.

"Thank you, you meddling idiot."

"Anytime, you shy little tanuki."


	6. Pretty in Pink

A/N: Lulz. I think of the word 'image' and I think of one of those pictures you just CANNOT get out of your mind. Sometimes you really have to suffer for those images, you really do. Ask Sano.

Word a Day Prompts: Image

Word Count: 861

**Pretty in Pink**

Heaven above! There would be no removing this particular image from the back of his retinas for the rest of his days. Truthfully, he didn't want to remove it. This sort of thing was absolutely priceless. Sanosuke felt that damn stubborn smile tugging on his lips again as he commented, "You really do get into your cooking, don't you Kenshin?"

"Sano..." Blue eyes glared up at him from the smaller rurouni. The name was drawn out in a hiss of warning, the stance and tone reminding Sanosuke of who here was capable of pounding who's face into the dirt of the dojo's back yard. Kenshin rarely used that look on Sano, rarely used it anyone as he genuinely preferred other tactics to getting his way than intimidation.

For his part, Sanosuke rather thought that under different circumstance he might have been quaking in his bandaging. But right now... right now Kenshin could beat him into the ground and he'd still loose the battle with his sense of humor.

Because this was just too perfect, it really was.

"I'm just saying," the younger man drawled, his face contorting despite his best intentions into a full fledged grin, "That this is really a whole body affair for you. You should consider getting into the business of smashing grapes. I think you'd have a knack for it."

"Sano," Kenshin really growled it this time, through his teeth and deep in his throat. The whole thing. "Don't you dare laugh."

And of course being specifically told not to laugh caused the natural reaction of a bubble of laughter to wriggle its way up through his belly. Sanosuke swallowed hard on the defiant thing. But the grin was not going away again. It was there to stay and there was nothing the ex-street ruffian could do about fixing that at this point.

"I wouldn't dream of it Kenshin. You know, you could give up cooking and go for clothing dyeing, I understand that's a pretty noble trade. And you have some real skill there..."

A muscle twitched in the rurouni's serious set face and Sanosuke abruptly found himself forced to press a hand to his belly and one to his mouth to stifle the determined laughter that had worked up from his stomach and was now lodged in his esophagus. This was worse than heart burn, nearly doubling him over and causing tears to prick at his eyes. And, oh, by all things beautiful was that a horrendously dirty look he was getting from Kenshin.

"Are you done yet? Or should this one stand here and patiently wait for you to get it out of your system?"

The crossed arms and accompanying toe-tapping that went with this cold sentence nearly forced Sanosuke to give into to his epic battle with his own comedic sense. Instead he struggled to respond through his mouth drawn back in a monstrous grin and that laughter lodged in his throat. What came out cracked and squeaked more than his voice had when he was fourteen years old. "Ah man, Kenshin. I'm really trying here! I just need a... just a moment and I think... Like you wouldn't be doing the same thing!"

At this Kenshin's shoulders slumped and his lips twitched into the tiniest hint of a smile for the first time since the incident that set this all in motion. "Indeed this one probably would. Oh, fine Sano, let it out before you explode."

It was like being given the go ahead at a race track. The gates opened and Sanosuke loosed a peel of laughter into the air that ripped through his lungs and shot passed his lips entirely of its own accord. And once the dam was open it was not closing until the flood level had dropped. Which is how Sanosuke found himself seated on the ground with both arms wrapped around his mid section as he curled into himself with tears in his eyes and howled with laughter for the next several moments.

What was best and probably set him off longer was when Kenshin himself plopped beside Sano and finally unbent himself far enough to give into full fledged laughter along side the younger man. Because the whole thing had been an accident and it was really very funny. To have the grate give way below the pot of warming stewed beets was one thing, to have it happen while Kenshin was stoking the fire right there had been another. While the rurouni's top was always a faded magenta he was now a lovely shade of pink from head to foot. This included his skin and sandals. None of it was an even coating though, which resulted in a pattered array of splotchyness. It was a good thing the pot hadn't been up to boiling yet, but the results were quite worth the accident.

Wiping the the tears from his eyes and gasping for breath Sanosuke really did make the effort to master himself. He wasn't quite done yet though. "Don't let anyone tell you otherwise Kenshin, you really are _very_ pretty in pink!"


	7. Rats in the Hold

A/N: Borrowed this prompt from another list for another fandom. Because I read 'rat' and thought of Sanosuke's epic stow-away adventure.

Word a Day Prompts: Rats

Word Count: 611

**Rats in the Hold**

The ship was not new, its mighty sails reflecting it's pre-industrial lineage, but the large sea liner was a reliable sea fairing vessel. The ship rolled with the current of the ocean, her hull breaking oncoming waves with a sculptor's skill, the wooden planks of the thing creaking quietly under the stresses of ocean travel. Sanosuke knew the sounds well at this point, and as he walked the deck his body easily compensated for the ocean's roll.

It'd been exactly two weeks since he had departed from Japan.

In the last eight days of that journey, the 19-year old had not had much chance to reflect on that decision. It was ironic, really, that he could manage to stay underground and hidden so well in Japan only to fleet away a mere six days in the cargo hold of the ship unnoticed. Oh yes, the captain was a wiser man than one would have given the rotund man credit for on first sight. He was also quite perceptive as to the goings on on his ship. In fact, Sanosuke had come to the decided conclusion that the old captain knew every rat and crew member aboard the sea liner by name.

Every rat, of course, grew to include a certain stowaway. Really though, Sano had been quite shocked to see those pale gray eyes examining him as he woke from a very nice dream. He'd had himself well situated on a few bags of rice and a barrel of water, comfortable and out of casual sight. But the captain was no casual man when it came to his ship, and as the graying man grinned and said in slightly broken Japanese, he did enjoy making rounds of every corner of his ship at least once a week. You never knew what or _who_ you would turn up.

After raising his bushy eyebrows at the sight of the stowaway lounging so peacefully in the hold, the captain did something most unexpected in Sano's mind. He had conjured some fairly realistic image of an angry captain and crew dumping him in the middle Pacific Ocean, and all in the four second time frame it took him to go from sound asleep to perfectly, rigidly awake before the man. However, the captain grinned, his American features and graying mustache not hiding the boyish amusement. Holding out his hand to Sanosuke, the man offered, "Taichou John Mathers. And you, I don't recall being on my crew roster."

His Japanese was not fluid, but he was clear enough to be understood. Consoling himself that with a reception like this, the man wouldn't possibly toss him overboard, Sanosuke caught hold on his well known bravado, and recognizing the western gesture even if he was unused to it, caught the captain's hand in a firm grip. "Sagara Sanosuke. And I'm just along for the ride."

Captain Mathers chuckled at this. "My boy, I'm a fair man. But I'm no pushover. On my ship, there'll be no such thing as a 'free ride.'"

Which was very much how the former gangster found himself strolling the deck of the ship with a water barrel on each shoulder, hauling them below. The skies were clouding up and the winds blowing harder. Captain Mathers and his first mate had come to the mutual conclusion that a storm was brewing over their course, and best to be done was to put all loose items what could be below decks and tie down the rest. The man had been right, this was no free ride. Instead, Sano had been set straight to work, to earn his passage if nothing else.


	8. Brothers in Arms

A/N: Another borrowed prompt word. These two guys have a really great friendship between them, its a shame something almost always goes wrong to interrupt their bonding time. Not here though not in the wonders of short stories!

Word a Day Prompts: Relax

Word Count: 630

**Brothers in Arms**

The taller traveler with dark brown, wildly spiked hair paused in the middle of the road running past a forest on one side and plains on the other. The traveler was shaking his head dubiously, sending red bandanna tails fluttering, at his shorter companion's comment. "I've got to disagree, Kenshin. A quiet trip is not what I need. I need something to fight. How am I supposed to relax without having something to fight? That's an impossible thing your asking to happen." Sanosuke stated around the fish bone caught between his teeth.

Kenshin paused, turning to look wryly up at his taller companion. "Was it not you who suggested we walk the main path to Kyoto as a 'mini-vacation?' Would that not imply quiet relaxation?"

It was indeed a trip to Kyoto that had them caught out on the well used path. All though they had returned from there and the entire deal with Shishio not two months before, Misao had sent word calling them back- it seemed she wanted them desperately to attend her birthday party.

"Well yeah, if I had really meant it as that kind of vacation. Just seemed easier to suggest walking than dealing with Jou-chan's evil eye about us freeloaders not being able to buy our own traveling tickets to take a boat to Kyoto. The kid'll take care of her and give her something to beat on. So," Sanosuke said with a shrug, "You see it was a vacation from being nagged at about dojo costs and what not."

"Mmm," Kenshin hummed in something that may have been agreement, "In any case, it is still relaxing to walk. Your hand has not yet recovered, and this one could do with more quiet peace after our last adventure. You could use a little time off, we both could. This is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm not ashamed." Sano protested with a scowl. Straightening to his full height he stalked from where he had been standing to pass Kenshin, left hand subconsciously caressing the tight linen wraps on his right hand. As he passed, he noted an amused arched brow from the red-headed rurouni.

This was one good thing, Sano thought to himself, since they're last journey to Kyoto. Kenshin had relaxed some, he could respond with humor again in situations that called for it. At least, with Sano he could. The younger man smirked to himself at this; Kenshin tended to be far more honest in his responses when his only company was Sanosuke. And there was something to this that Sanosuke could see from the responses of the samurai of late. Kenshin had not himself fully recovered from the ordeal with Shishio, he was still more tired than he normally would be even though he was generally recovered. And he really did need a breather from Jou-chan trying to smother him with good intentions.

It was a good thing to get Kenshin out for a nice easy going walk, just a time between men. It kept the man from getting too serious again. "Come on then, Kenshin, you're going to be left behind. By the time you catch up I'll have finished the vacation- wouldn't go over well with the little miss if I arrived without you, either."

There was something of a grin in Kenshin's voice as he took quick strides to catch up to his taller friend. "This one sincerely doubts that it would, Sano."

The younger man chuckled as Kenshin re-appeared at his side. Stretching his arms high before resting them both at the back of his neck, Sanosuke twisted the fish bone in his teeth as he said, "At least we're on the same page with that."


	9. Feeding the Ducks

A/N: This came out more melancholy than I was planning on. Poor lonely traveling Sano...

Word a Day Prompts: Park

Word Count: 200

**Feeding the Ducks**

He found it interesting to see that English ducks were a lot like the ducks he knew back in his native Japan. There were differences, of course, but the noises and the behaviors were essentially the same. You didn't feed Japanese ducks bread crumbs often, but bread was a commodity there. He didn't see any of these English gentle folks tossing rice at these guys either.

Sanosuke knew he was suffering of a strangely nostalgic moment, sitting in a park near central London and comparing ducks. He should have been out roaming the streets and exploring one of the great cities of the western world. He had been until the rolling, yellow smog of the industrial district had chased him out. It was here too, that smog, it was all over London, but it wasn't so thick.

His wandering thoughts suggested of how Kaoru would have loved to see Big Ben. She had a thing for modern contrivances and even though the giant clock wasn't so modern it was still an impressive contraption. Yahiko would have been taken with stories of knights of old. And Kenshin, well, he would have been content to sit there and feed ducks with Sanosuke.


	10. Sleep Now

A/N: Not enough Sano whump going on in these stories – and me a self proclaimed addict!

Word a Day Prompts: Hot

Word Count: 200

**Sleep Now**

It was hot. Achingly, blindingly, hot. Possibly the hottest spring day Sanosuke had ever seen in his nineteen years in Japan. Not that he would have remembered those first few years to tell you that for sure. At just that moment he couldn't have told you with any certainty that it was in fact day. All he knew for certain was that it was hot when he was cold and cold when he was hot. And it hurt, if it could be said that a day _could _hurt.

He tossed fitfully on the cot seeking cool and comfort. Something cold settled itself on his forehead then (where had his bandana gone?) and a soft palm applied itself to his cheek. Soothing words and a lulling voice murmured soft things above his head. Sanosuke struggled for a long moment to open his eyes and longer yet to focus on the painted lips and cinnamon eyes that looked down on him. That face was angelic just then, framed by raven black hair.

He had no idea how he got there, wherever it was he was at, but in the care of this woman he felt safe.

"Sleep now, you stubborn Rooster."


	11. The Virtues of Peace

A/N: Ack, here I am writing solid Sano prompts and I see "Peace" pop up for the week and start laughing. Sano and peace? Well, I did ask for a challenge...

For the record, I love the Kenshin-gumi, I do. And I love Kaoru and Yahiko. But, to be fair, if Kenshin is down they are going to be focused on him and and injured Sanosuke would fade into the woodwork, so to speak. Which is part of how this premiss came about.

Also, I did some grammar edits on the previous stories, but I'm still beta-less and all errors are my own.

10.) Peace 100-1000 words – For rk_challenge

Word Count: 950

**The Virtues of Peace**

The building behind his back was a flutter of activity. Some of it was positive activity. Most of it was a sense of nervous energy. Sanosuke sat on the back porch away from the main doors. He sat as still as he dared, legs straight before him instead of bent in their usual angles. He hurt. All over. There was no nice way around that.

He wasn't dieing or anything though, that kind of scare he was leaving up to Kenshin. Not that he was dying either, he was just the focus of a lot of medical attention up on the second floor of the restraunt-turned-boarding house. They'd been back for more than three hours now, Sano having carried Kenshin all the way back to inner Kyoto with Shinomori silent by his side. Kenshin wasn't awake yet.

Shishio was dead. Saito was dead. And Kenshin wasn't awake yet. It was a high priced victory at best.

Sano shuddered slightly and wrapped both arms around himself. His right tucked carefully in. It was almost pleasantly numb unlike his throbbing ribs and pounding head. He knew several of the ribs were cracked from that unexpected sojourn with the wall. And his head, it was some kind of wonder he wasn't concussed from that.

He was waiting his turn at the doctors, at getting a room. There were others much worse off than he after this mess. What he wanted though, what he was itching for, was to get good and drunk and get into a fight. Despite the injuries. Saito was dead, Kenshin wasn't awake yet, and Sano really wanted to hit something.

"You don't look like your enjoying the moment of peace, boy."

Sanosuke turned dark eyes up to the rolling stride of the tall broad man who addressed him from the yard. His hair was longer than Kenshin's and black as pitch, his mouth turned into a tilt of distaste. His white and red cape was as shocking as it was gaudy, but calloused hands and a well positioned sword on his hip suggested the man's capabilities. Sano's head hurt too much to work out the implications too far.

"I don't much see how its your business one way or another old man. Whoever you are."

The man's nose twisted at the old man comment, but he brought himself to sit with straight back not three foot away from Sanosuke without consent all the same. "Hiko Seijuro." He announced with an important flourish of hand and cape. At Sanosuke's blank look he continued in a disgruntled fashion, "Himura Kenshin's master. I assume you know who he is at least, considering you carried him back here."

From the look and tone he was on the receiving end of, Sano suspected he was supposed to be bowing and scraping to this man. He looked as though he was used to and expected that sort of reaction. Sano favored Kenshin for his swordsman hero worship, no matter his master. He might have favored Saito a little as well. But Saito was dead, and Kenshin wasn't awake yet. And while this man was impressive, Sano couldn't bring himself to care.

"Right," the younger man acknowledged before breaking eye contact to stare discontentedly out into the yard. "Here I thought you just smelled of some drunk."

Out of the corner of his eye, Sanosuke caught the briefest flash of the other man's lips tilting up in amusement. He smothered it quickly. "A day doesn't begin without good sake. Its my business because your obviously a friend of my idiot pupil. The way he prattles on about peace and sentimentality I assumed his friends would be in a similar state of mind. The others are delighted with the victory, but your routed to the spot in a hermit-like fashion that I can appreciate. You should be getting your wounds tended and fawning over my stupid pupil. Your sitting here brooding instead."

"Fuck peace," Sanosuke found himself blurting at the man, "Fuck it all. It gets good men killed and injured to get it and leaves you nothing to do when you have it. I want a fucking fight – not peace."

Hiko didn't bother to hide the smirk this time. "Its a wonder your still friends with my idiot pupil if you've told him of that particular world view."

Sanosuke felt a small blush cross his otherwise pale cheeks. He couldn't quite tell if it was anger or embarrassment. He felt muddled. Maybe he was concussed after all. Maybe that's why his thoughts kept chasing round his head like playful puppies. "We've been known to disagree on a few topics."

"Good," Hiko, nodded, "I was hoping that stupid boy hadn't surrounded himself with people who would never challenge him. And who are you, that worries for that stupid student but sees the world from the opposite side of him?"

Sanosuke turned his head to look back at the man. He wondered if he might get along with this Hiko character. "Sagara Sanosuke."

"Well then Sagara. I'm going to make sure your injuries get attended to and that you get some sleep. After that we will go out and get drunk in Kyoto. Perhaps get involved in a bar fight."

Sanosuke eyed Hiko askance, unsure of what to make of this offer, or was it an order? "A drunken fight is just what I was thinking of."

"Of course. Once we get those needs out of your system, maybe you can reevaluate the cost-to-worth ratio of peace again with clear eyes. Come, you look a mess."


	12. Of Strengths and Weaknesses

A/N: you know, strictly 100 words is harder than it seems. Anyway, real life nearly ran me over this week and I almost didn't get this baby out in time to make the weekly challenge! Bah. And here it was so very Sano geared too!

Prompt: Loyal

Word Count: 100 (first real drabble .)

**Of Strengths and Weaknesses**

He had never been the smartest, the fastest, or even the strongest. He would never be the toughest or the wittiest of men. Though he did pride himself on these things.

The foes he had beaten through the years on the streets of Tokyo would remember him for his fists, for his intensity, for the terror of seeing his beloved Zanbatou. The foes who had beaten him would remember a stupid boy too full of fire and not enough intellect or training to back it.

His friends though, they would forever remember Sagara Sanosuke for his humor, bravery, and loyalty.


	13. Boar Stupidity

A/N: Okay, let me preface this by saying I do realize its hard to say if a traveling Sanosuke ever made it to Africa. Probably not, but my head!canon likes to think he did. So, this little fic relates to an adventure our world traveling Sano might have had.

Prompt: Brave

Word Count: 719

**Boar Stupidity**

Sanosuke honestly could not have said for certain if it were bravery, stupidity, or desperation which had placed him in his current predicament. Really, it involved facets of all three points, but he was beginning to have the worrisome thought that stupidity and desperation were the larger motivators.

His world travels had found him now wandering through the depths of that hot and wild continent of Africa. He wasn't quite certain where in Africa he was right then. The Japanese native had found himself quite ill with something brutal and nasty some two months into his travels though the continent. It wasn't the first time his travels had seen him ill, one of Sanosuke's very first lessons in world wandering was that he was prone to catching about everything his body wasn't used to. It was a strange thing at first, as he had always been damned healthy in Japan. Now he was lucky to be healthy as often as he was sick.

Most of his ills had been, if not fun, not lethal either. He'd been sick to be sure, suffering with out doubt, but had always been reassured of recovery. This thing in Africa though, this brutal thing had dropped him like a brick. The writhing agony in his belly had been horrible enough and frightening when combined with puking up blood. What had really terrified him though was when he had begun to sweat and cry blood. Sanosuke was sure at that point he was a goner.

At some point during this process, some African witch doctor had picked him up off the plains before the hyenas had his bones and worked staidly for several weeks with a variety of horrible potions, pin pricks and other such voodoo to right the traveler. They didn't speak the same language, they didn't have the same culture, but Sanosuke knew as he passed the worst of this vile illness that he owed all his thanks to this man and the tribe he found himself staying with.

As such, during his recovery, Sanosuke set about learning the language and the ways of the people he was staying with. He'd found in his travels that he had a gift for picking up language pretty quickly. It was necessary when you found yourself all alone in foreign countries. It was shocking to see the tribe all running about naked at first. Men, woman and children alike. Sano had learned to be open minded about strange behaviors and soon rationalized that it made a certain sense – it was freakin' hot in Africa.

Much goading by his new friends among the tribe had Sanosuke eventually joining them in wearing nothing but his skin. Embarrassment aside at being both naked and wickedly picked on by the tribe for his snowy white flesh, this was not the brave and/or stupid moment that really pegged him.

No, that came when the tribesmen and women kept referring to him as a boy. Well, Sanosuke took some exception to this and finally bothered to ask why he couldn't be considered a man. The elders had laughed at this and patiently explained that until he underwent the trial of manhood, he would always be considered a boy.

Sanosuke had come to a real understanding with these so-called uncivilized people in the short time he'd spent with them. He liked them and in many ways liked their way of life. What was more, he felt a desperate need to prove himself to them. As such, he volunteered to take the trial with the other boys the following week.

This was how Sanosuke found himself with the problem at hand. A real predicament if he'd ever faced one. He was expected to hunt down a wild boar, through the under bush with a bone knife and a spear and absolutely not a stitch of clothing on him. Lots of those bushes were thorny. And the boar he faced down across the small clearing had some wicked looking tusks.

Sano breathed a sigh and hefted the spear above his shoulder as he stalked closer to his adversary. Stupidity and desperation may have been driving him just then, but he knew if he ever shared the story with anyone else in the future, he would be sure to brag about his bravery instead.


	14. Red

A/N: So colors. Lots of options and I really couldn't hold on to one slippery idea or another long enough to write a story for the prompt. But, I had to try. So, here we are, last ditch effort...

Prompt: Color

Word Count: 475

**Red**

Dear Friends,

Damn, that comes off sounding awfully formal doesn't it? I've no business writing crap like that. I really probably don't have any business writing to you lot at all, seeing as how I'm never in a place long enough for you guys to post something back. That, and I'm not really sure anything I ever try to write comes out looking anything more than a journal entry instead of a proper letter. That's why I usually don't send what I write. That's why I probably wont send this one by the look of things.

Oh well.

Right, I'm ah... well, I'm somewhere in the northern United States right now. Or is is southern Canada? Hey, no joking about my sense of direction, its not like there's a chalked border or a great wall to mark the difference around here! And it really all looks the same. Not that that's a problem, its really nice scenery 'round here. Huge trees. Blue lakes, babbling rivers. Its wild country, mostly.

Lets see, its fall here. The trees are changing. I'm staring at this big old maple tree right now that has the reddest leaves I've ever seen. Not blood red, unless it were really fresh than maybe blood red. No, its something of a shade darker than Kenshin's hair. Shit, that's what prompted me to write this, isn't it? Seeing that color makes me all nostalgic for friends and home. At least I'm not thinking about blood – much.

There are other colors too. Lots of yellow and bright orange. Its like some artist had way too much paint and time on his hands. Shit, that's way too poetic for me. I'm sitting here on my own this afternoon. Haven't seen another soul in something like two weeks now. So I guess I get poetic after that much time in my own company.

Tell me Kenshin, does this mean I'm turning into Hiko? No, s'pose not. See unlike him, I miss human company.

Jou-chan, you started on making kids with Kenshin yet? I hope so, I don't plan on coming home and having to explain to the two of you about how that's supposed to work. And Yahiko, I hope your still keeping eyes on that pretty little girl. You won't find another like her in the world. Right, so I haven't made it around the world yet, but I think I've seen enough to be something of an authority on the subject. And I wonder if that lady doctor ever found that family of hers.

Damn, I really am feeling kinda low at the moment. I miss you guys a lot. I really do. I think I'll just take one of these fallen maple leaves with me and see how long it keeps its color. It really is such an outstanding red.

Your Friend Always,

Sagara Sanosuke


	15. Wolf's Claim

A/N: Erm. I've been reading supernatural stories all week, so this is really my own fault. Its so far AU it fun. So as a Halloween prompt goes, take it or leave it. The idea came to me on jenineji's suggestion of 'beast for a week.' Don' know if its only for a week though by the sound of things here!

Prompt: Halloween

Word Count: 250

**Wolf's Claim**

He felt it rippling beneath his skin, growing, gnawing, mutating. It was a sensation like no other. It was foreign and familiar. It was brutal and majestic. It was everything he had never achieved under his own direction, for it was power. It was everything he wasn't, for it was a cold and cruel thing.

He groaned, clasping a hand to his right shoulder as though to prevent the rippling, to prevent the change. It started there. It had started there since he had been marked there. For he had been marked there by as brutal a predator as had ever walked Japan. He had marked his prey, claimed him visibly as his own with a sword through shoulder. Bone and muscle equally severed, mind and body equally shattered.

He belonged to the wolf now. Marked and brought unwillingly into the pack. His disposition swayed like the ocean by the ebb and raise of the moon. Weren't werewolves things of western stories? Things told by drunken sailors 'round seedy taverns on the waterfront? Didn't they need to bite you to change you?

Perhaps he had been bitten, by one long and sharp fang. Marked and changed by a wolf long separated from his pack. It didn't matter now. Sanosuke clutched at his thin body and gave into the fur and fangs that were overtaking him. Head tossed back, hair wild, and eyes full of pain turned toward the full moon, he loosed a mournful howl.

"Damn you, Saito Haijime!"


End file.
